Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis departs on Sunday for Riad, Saudi Arabia, where he will pay a visit aiming to promote Cyprus as a tourist destination in the Saudi market.

The Deputy Minister told CNA that as Cyprus awareness index in the wider Middle East region is relatively low there is a need for many meetings with market stakeholders, while at the same time online advertising should run so that the awareness index of Cyprus increases and turns into tourist arrivals.

Koumis recalled that Cyprus will have direct flights with Saudi Arabia namely Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, emphasizing at the same time that Saudi Arabia is a big market and a market that currently develops in terms of outbound tourism, to which Cyprus should pay particular attention.

The Cypriot delegation will visit all three cities with which there will be direct flights with Cyprus, namely the capital Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. As Koumis said, there will be presentations of Cyprus to tourism industry stakeholders, tour operators and travel agents, in all three cities.

"The purpose of the trip is purely to do business, to have meetings with tour operators and local travel agents to promote Cyprus as a tourist destination," Koumis noted.

Last Wednesday, the Deputy Minister of Tourism announced approval by the Ministerial Council of a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia for the tourism sector with the two countries recognizing the need to strengthen their bilateral cooperation with the aim of further developing tourist flows.